Archives for October 2013

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Ever thought about living off the grid, leaving everything behind, and saying goodbye to a debt-laden lifestyle? Well, some people have done exactly that. In this Yahoo News video, they cover two of the most radical conservationists and anti-consumption representatives of the last few years. These people decided to walk away from it all to save big.

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What If I Know Your Social Security Number

To anyone that’s suffered the indiscriminate, determined destruction of having your identity stolen, you probably understand the pain and violated feeling that can result. A simple 9-digit span – your social security number (SSN) – is often the sole protection from those who look to do harm.

With those powerful digits, I could empty your bank accounts, hijack your online shopping accounts, buy private currencies (i.e., Bitcoin) to launder funds, and completely steal your identity. Potentially, I could use a deceased individual’s SSN to “recover” a passport and driver’s license. Needless to say, life gets pretty bumpy after your identity is stolen.

Privacy, Security Is Underrated

I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with people that don’t worry that Google knows everything about you. Maybe Google will only use your information to profit off of targeted advertising and better their internal algorithms, but when any organization knows too much, it can be a liability. Moreover, Google likely isn’t the only company you entrust. How about Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Amazon, etc.?

People seem to undermine and discount the need for some level of privacy in the digital world. I’m not sure psychologically why the digital world is different – maybe the physical distance from the corporate bodies enables a desensitization to divulge information. Regardless, the fact that we implicitly trust digital entities is the reason why identity thieves have an easy job. We have put so much information onto the Internet that we are prime targets. If I can link enough public information together, I can likely get every bank account password you have – or just create new ones.

When you browse the web, you leave traces everywhere. This website uses some tracking technology to better understand popular articles and track the success of certain campaigns. Everything can be read here. But even with Frugaling.org’s strict privacy policy, I know a lot about you by default. You can prevent a lot of tracking and protect yourself, but do you? Why do you implicitly trust me and everyone else on the Internet to respect your data?

It’s Simple: TNO

There’s a concise motto that prevents identity thieves from getting your information: TNO. The acronym stands for Trust No One. It’s extreme, but for the digital world, it might just help you from losing all your money in the near future.

Identity hacking and theft is on the rise. By approaching the online world from a TNO perspective, you don’t assume that Google search histories are safe. You likely need to minimize your digital footprint (i.e., deactivate that Facebook). And you may want to consider privatizing your profiles on other social sharing networks. Don’t indiscriminately fill out forms with you full address, personal information, and/or account information. It’s easier than you think to steal it all.

TNO is a harsh philosophy. In my opinion, there’s one caveat to it all: Trust no one until they give reason to trust them (online). Otherwise, your bank accounts could be prime for a serious, abrupt slim down.

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As a graduate student, writer, and instructor, I wear a lot of hats. One of my favorite parts is teaching students about technology. While it may sound trite, I learn a great deal from the students I interact with, and enjoy the opportunities for instruction. After teaching technology courses for a little while now and being a total geek all my life, I figured it was time to feature 4 free apps that help get me through my work day – fast.

Remember when you had to carry around a flash drive everywhere you went? Say goodbye to those days – the future is in the cloud. Dropbox is the leading cloud storage provider in the world. The company uses incredibly secure technology to keep my essays and research, private and safe. More importantly, when I’m working on shared research projects and/or presentations, Dropbox is my key collaborative tool. Now, people can edit, revise, and leave comments on documents that are synced in real-time, and accessible to me – instantly! It works like magic. If I were ever to lose my computer, I feel comfortable knowing that my stuff would still be available to me. Between the collaborative opportunities and storage backup, Dropbox is an easy choice. Plus, if you refer your friends, you get bonus storage for free!

This is where my day begins. What am I going to have to do? Google Calendar is the always aware, always synced option that saves me a boatload of time and hassle. I know where I need to be and when – all the time. By opening up my iPhone calendar or navigating to Google.com/calendar, I can easily see what my week looks like. By utilizing this service, I save on paper, time, lost items, and much more. Google Calendar keeps me running.

I’m a HUGE fan of open source technologies. Not only do I believe they can save you lots of money in the long run, but they also propagate a philosophy that’s about being inclusive and sharing. LibreOffice is a free platform that aims to compete with Microsoft Office’s suite of applications. If you are about to plop $100 or more on the Microsoft suite of applications, think again – there’s another way. Just download LibreOffice and try it out – you have nothing to lose. Moreover, I prefer the design options within LibreOffice and there are terrific opportunities for tech support all over the web.

4. TextEdit/Notepad

Are you stuck taking notes with a paper notepad? It’s time to upgrade to a stupid simple option that’s available on every computer (Mac, Windows, and Linux). Just open up the system’s pre-installed note taking app. For Mac users, it’s called TextEdit. I use this semi-religiously as my go-to app for quick notes and ideas. These applications start up faster than LibreOffice or Microsoft Office, and they are perfect for the busy student. Now, save and sync your notes to Dropbox, and you’ll be able to access them in the cloud and back them up

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A Sad Wheel

The other day I was walking around campus, and saw a lone bicycle wheel. The metal sat flat against the concrete, locked on a bike rack – the rest of the frame was gone. The problem was that this (former) bike owner only locked the front wheel – not the frame – to the rack. Now, they were likely out $100-200. Over a large enough period of time, you’re going to slip up. You’re human. Humans make mistakes. Sometimes it can be difficult to find the self-compassion to get over these events. At times, I’ve beaten myself up over the woulda coulda shouldas. But at the heart of this article is a different question: Are you budgeting for mistakes?

What A Parking Spot

When I was an undergraduate student in college, I was driving my ex-girlfriend’s car to one of my favorite unhealthy chain restaurants: IHOP. As I pulled into the parking lot, I confidently turned into an open space. Just when I was about to turn the wheel back to center, I scraped the entire side of the neighboring car. Suddenly, I was unprepared and only had a few hundred dollars in my bank account. I panicked. What could I do? I was unprepared. I trip, fall, drop, and spill frequently. I know I’m accident prone. By admitting that I make mistakes and beginning to budget for such events, I’m getting ahead of it. Instead of being a reactionary mess, I’m looking to become preventative and protective. By choosing the latter route, it’s an admission of my humanity. But up until now, I haven’t wanted to partition a group of funds to protect against this unfortunate scenario.

We Are Fallible

Whether you call it a rainy day or emergency fund, saving a portion of your income for poorer times is a must. Paying off your debt, investing, and balancing your budget are all great steps to a healthy financial life, but unless you are budgeting for mistakes, you’re not going to be prepared or realistic. It’s time for you to create an emergency, mistake fund, and here are three terrific resources/websites to do just that: